Support thread for anyone hoping the builders will be finished by Christmas...

[EmmalinaC]

Just wondered if there was anyone else out there in the same situation...?

We are having an extension built for new kitchen, downstairs loo and knocking a few walls down/doors through. Oh the dust!

We currently have no kitchen (no cooker/sink/washing machine and periodically no hot water/heating) just a big mess which is being plastered this week. New kitchen, tiles etc have been delivered and are being stored in the living room as there's nowhere else to put them.

We have two DDs aged 2 and 5 who are in love with the builder and who spend all their spare time drawing on the packaging which is all over the house. They think it's all marvellous fun.

Or they did until one of them succumbed to the vomit-y bug which is a whole load of fun with no washing machine...

It will be worth it, won't it?

good luck - been there so I feel your pain. We started in April much the same as your work and were 7 weeks with no kitchen but starting to see the light at the end of the tunnel now. I think we will be painting right up to Santa arriving though. And yes of course it will be worth it...

(gritting teeth emoticon)

Me. 5 months in - 2 weeks over schedule at the monent!

Ha ha ha ha (that's crazy laughing!)

we had builders in to do not much - 6 weeks work they told us. That was mid August and they reckon they need at least another 2 weeks. Given their pretty rubbish estimates I hold out little hope - even though all they have left is some decorating!!

Ok, so vinegar yours started in April and you can just see light at the end of the tunnel... and sixties you're five months in and still going...

Ours started mid-October. I am clearly deluding myself.

I feel for you - this was me this time last year ......... the builders left at 4pm on Christmas Eve having just managed to install a working kitchen. I'm sure yours are waaay more competent and organised than ours were!

Good luck

Nooooooooooo scary this is not what I want to hear! Not at all!

4pm on Christmas eve would be fine! As long as I can roast my turkey...

It will be worth it!

The things I did wrong were;
a) assume that as it was a fixed price rather than daily, the builder would want to get it done asap
b) not be tough enough with him early on
c) I should have had penalty clauses. He gave us 6 days to do our room/ensuite. We gave him 15. It took 30. we should have knocked money off the price for every week he ran over

sure it'll be fine.....we're doing the decorating ourselves so this slowed us down - a lot -- (literally waiting for plaster to dry)

we are having a house warming on Dec 3rd come hell or high water !
oh, and remember to take the before and after pics